outfit as the bow is cheap and you will want to use the bow that you are used to. Initially it was marketed as the Yamaha Silent since it can be used for practising with Walkman type earphones. A number of the ones we have sold have been bought specifically for this purpose by players both professional and student with small children who need to sleep or who have difficult relationships with their neighbours. (Two of our customers have moved in the last five years after threats from neighbours). They've stopped supplying the earphones now, presumably as a cost cutting measure, but any Walkman type earphones will fit.

For some the negative aspects are a different weight balance, the fact that they can only be used with a Kun shoulder rest, and the sound not being present under the ear which can take some getting used to. The major warning is that electric violins do nothing for right hand technique. Tone and volume now come from the knobs controlling the electricity, not your bow hand. Excessive use could cause bow technique to degrade. There are stories of one leading jazz violinist being now virtually unable to play acoustically.

We've sold these instruments to classical, jazz, rock and folk musicians whose skills have ranged from the sublime to the not so good. They can be a lot of fun for the jaded teenager and a serious tool for learning new pieces. The classical players use them for practice, for show and theatre gigs, weddings in tents or in fact anywhere where you need reasonable volume  and may have qualms about taking your "first" instruments. The Yamaha Silent is not a replacement acoustic violin, it is a whole other voice. It does a different job. In spite of the few reservations mentioned above it is absolutely hassle free in performance and a doddle to play, and we think that it is very good value for money.

•Nicholas Woodward
(Nicholas Woodward can be contacted on the shop number in the afternoons only. He also regularly talks about various aspects of the  manufacture, set-up and maintenance of stringed instruments at festivals, summer schools and in service training days as well as writing articles for other publications)

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All these systems are low output and usually sound a lot better than when using a pre-amp. Pre-amplification boosts the signal to the amplifier. Without a pre-amp the amplifier might have to be turned up very high to compete with the corresponding loss in quality of sound produced. A pre-amp will help by giving the volume a surge before it reaches the amplifier so that volume levels can be higher, without distortion.
However much you spend on a pick-up you are only as good as the P.A. system that you are going through. The problem with pick-ups is that they are either good enough to be used professionally or they are jusnot good enough. I don't think we've come across a good cheap pick-up. All amplified sound is pretty much a compromise.
Please do phone in to check on availability before making a special trip in. We can generally get most types of amplification in at relatively short notice if we are out of them. Violin family amplification is still developing and new products are appearing all the time. For in depth analysis I suggest you try phoning Andy Holliman (who has made a special study on this subject) on 01636 677 416 or seeing his website: www.electricstrings.com  As a shop we are primarily concerned with the way instruments behave acoustically. This is our love and the reason that 99% of people take up the violin in the first place so we only stock a small selection of well established pick-ups.

Yamaha Silent Violin SV110K

We now stock one electric violin, the Yamaha SV110K. In the last year our sales have averaged about two a month. This is the first time that a multinational  music company has taken the electric violin seriously and it is probably the cheapest instrument on the market at £495.
We put a new bridge on ours as the one supplied is of poor quality and good wood sounds better. Do not buy it as an